Diseasetale
by Creative Lynx 13
Summary: What if there was never a war but a disease. Monsters act as the unknowing carriers of the disease as it kills humans. The humans became frightened of the disease, and so they sealed the monsters beneath Mount Ebott. Though, this disease affected monsters more than the humans thought. This disease can change a monster's personality as well as physical looks. . . sometimes death.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note : I am very sorry for whomever was reading the first version of my Undertale fan fiction, Diseasetale. Everything just wasn't flowing very well together, and I couldn't stand how jagged it sounded when read. So I deleted it and have started this second version. This version will hopefully be better as it is in third person point of view and is focusing on Frisk. I hope everyone enjoys this new version of Diseastale as I will write what would happen in both the pacifist run and genocide run in this Undertale au of mine. Creative Lynx 13, out.

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A light blue sweater with magenta stripes, light blue denim shorts, and brown sneakers peaked through the dark cavern as a dull throb pulsed through the young human's skull whilst they lay in thought about the fact that they were still alive. After a while, the human sat up and studied their surroundings, rubbing their medium length hair. They saw stone surrounding them and golden flowers beneath them. They pondered how they had gotten into this situation, unable to remember how they had gotten down into the cave. They looked up to see moonlight filtering through the gaping hole that they had fallen into. The light trickled in a stream of white, causing the jutting rocks to go pale with terror at seeing the light. The golden flowers, on the other hand, laughed at how beautiful the light was, having been trapped in the dark cavern for ages.

The young human looked down at them self, examining for any injuries. Luckily, the only injury that they had was a cut down their left arm that they had received from the fall. To stop the thick, crimson liquid, blood, from continuing its flow out of the human, they wrapped a white cloth around the arm that they had stolen from a medical kit in case a scenario came up in which they would need the bandage. It would have to do until they found something to heal the wound.

The human placed their hands onto the buttercups so as to help them stand. They began to sway lightly from dizziness as they stood, but they soon regained a steady bearing over them self. They walked off in the direction of an opening in the small cave, the stone leading into a hallway that ended with another doorway to the left. The human turned into the doorway, walking into the next chamber. This room was just as bland as the previous, but what was enthralling was the patch of green grass in the center. Planted in the grass was a golden flower, except this one was much larger and contained a friendly grin. Upon closer inspection, the human could see that the flower's petals were tipped with a dark gray that gave off a faint glow. Other than those few minor details, the flower was just another buttercup.

Soft eight bit like music echoed around the small cavern as the flower began to speak with a high pitched, echo filled, but friendly, voice. The voice was male and sounded excited.

"Howdy! My name's Flowey, Flowey the flower. You're new to the Underground. Well, you shouldn't be here. Us monsters hold a disease that could kill a human such as you."

That was when the human remembered how they had gotten down into the dark, maze like caves. They had been banned from the city that was near this mountain, Mount Ebott. They had been banned because they had a disease that would easily kill humans, but they had had this disease for a good month or so before anyone else actually found out. So when someone had found out, people began to panic. The young human was immune to the disease, but the other humans, the adults, were too terrified to think rationally. In return the human was banned. They had climbed Mount Ebott in thought of committing to suicide. Instead, they were alive and now talking to a flower.

Flowey's shrill voice shattered the recollecting the human had been doing. The child looked down at the flower whom had a crazed look filled with zealous.

"So, how about I already end your life? Right here, right now. It'll save everyone the pain. For you, the pain of the disease. For us monsters, the pain of having to KILL you for your soul. After all, this world is KILL or be KILLED."

The surrounding area melted into a solid color of black as a red heart appeared before the human, floating involuntarily and enveloped in a bright glow. The human could feel something swim around the soul; DETERMINATION. The human was filled with determination. Determination to live. Determination to escape.

They dodged Flowey's first attack, then the second, the third, and so on. It wasn't long that the golden flower became angry, showing a horrifying face so as to terrify the nine year old as well as draining their HP down to one. The human, even though injured, stepped back as far as they could, but soon found their back pressed against the black room that had formed. More of the white colored attacks formed a ring around the human child, their soul beating faster with the ever increasing fear. Flowey laughed at the sight as the attack slowly closed in on the child. Before the attack was able to touch the human's skin, another attack appeared. A warm fire flew towards the flower, causing his eyes to widen as he was enveloped in the flame. He ducked underground as a tall monster appeared before the human.

This monster was female, and she had luxurious white fur. Two small, curved horns were settled onto the monster's head as two long ears dangled elegantly over her shoulders. Intertwined in her white fur was the color purple, patterned in a similar fashion to that of brindle as the purple gleamed with a dull light. The goat monster was wearing an indigo dress that had the picture of three white triangles, one pointed downwards and between two others that pointed upwards, and a circle with two wing like designs to either side of it. The human looked up in awe at the monster, not expecting one to be so beautiful. The goat like monster spoke in a soft, kind voice as the surrounding area returned to normal.

"What an awful creature, harming an innocent youth like that. My name is Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. Who might you be, young human?"

"F-Frisk."

Toriel's smile increased gently as Frisk continued to try and identify any clue to see if this monster was thinking of harming them like Flowey had.

"Do not worry. I will not hurt you like that vile creature did. Please follow me."

Frisk decided it was best for them to follow Toriel, but they also decided that they'd keep their guard up until they could figure out if they should trust the goat monster.

As Toriel lead them through each area, they were expected to learn how to live in this new environment. There were various puzzles that they had to complete and many monsters that they had to ACT with instead of FIGHT with. In truth, Frisk was happy that they had a second choice since they didn't like to fight. But. . . sometimes they had to run instead of being able to SPARE the monster.

Toriel explained that some monsters wouldn't allow Frisk to spare them because of their personality. The disease that was carried by monsters affected them by twisting their personalities. Some monsters became more aggressive while others more peaceful. Another thing that the disease did was stop the growth process in young monsters of ages thirteen to eighteen. Any monsters on or between those ages would become stuck at that age, gaining youthful immortality. Toriel was one of those monsters, having been eighteen when receiving the disease.

"So you are immune to this disease, my child?"

Frisk nodded. They were sitting at a table with Toriel, drinking golden flower tea and eating butterscotch and cinnamon pie. Toriel had been nothing but kind and merciful so far, causing Frisk to grow fond of the goat monster.

"That is wonderful. I am very glad that you will not die because of something that every monster has."

It was then that Toriel began to look crestfallen.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

The sound of hearing the word 'Mom' seemed to lighten her mood, but she still seemed upset about something.

"It is just. . . I have tried to save every human child who has fallen down here, but each died a painful death from this horrid disease. I was unable to heal them, and it is my fault they are dead."

Light purple tears glittered in the warm lighting as Frisk leaned their head against Toriel's left arm. They hugged their new mom in a comforting fashion as Toriel began to ruffle Frisk's hair as a sign of love.

"My child. I think it is best you get some rest. I am going to read for a little while."

Frisk nodded before heading off to their room, but they never laid down to sleep. Instead, they stayed awake so they could see what Toriel was truly up to.


	2. Chapter 2

Frisk waited in their room, nodding off whenever they became fatigued. They were trying to stay awake so that they could see what Toriel was actually doing, but so far she was just reading like she had said. Though, the nagging feeling of something being. . . disturbing never seemed to cease, even when Frisk just wanted to sleep. The entire time, Frisk continuously walked out of their room and peaked around the corner to see if Toriel had moved, but so far she had done nothing out of the ordinary.

After an hour or so passed by, Frisk slid off their bed and became curious enough to explore the rest of the house. They walked to the left and down the hallway before entering one of the rooms to find it was similar to theirs, the only difference being that it was larger than their room. After looking around they decided to take a peak in Toriel's private journal that laid on the table. There was a bookmark slipped between two pages, trying to persuade me that the page it was marking was crucial in why their stomach was twisting as their nerves wracked their mind to not trust the goat monster. Frisk eventually bent to the will of curiosity and opened the journal to that page. They read slowly and carefully, making sure they understood every word that was written.

'The First had fallen. The Second was killed. The Others were murdered. The Killer met Eight. The Alternate was sick. The Guard became strong. The Royalty knelt. The Light dimmed. The False was found out. The First will rise again.

Let's see how this universe turns out.'

Below that was cleaner handwriting.

'What does this mean?'

Frisk felt their heart beat speed up with nervousness and horror. They didn't understand the riddle, and they were unsure if they wanted to know what it meant. The headache they received never ceased to giggle at how they were unable to solve the strangeness. All the human knew was that it was dark. It was the presence of the white ink upon the burnt colored paper that unsettled them, because every other page was an off white with black ink. Something else that caught my eye on the blackened page was the blue ink that was signed below the messy handwriting. What was signed was actually a picture instead of a name, and the picture was just as confusing as the writing above it; It was a drawing of what appeared to be a skeleton key.

"What are you doing in here?"

Frisk swiftly turned to their left to see Toriel standing in the doorway. She looked between the human child and the journal. Frisk felt very uncomfortable and embarrassed for having been caught by Toriel.

"You are curious, are you not?"

"I-I am. I'm very sorry."

Frisk tilted their head down apologetically, terrified that Toriel was now mad at them.

"It is alright. This is something that just showed up one day. I do not know what it means. . ."

Toriel lost herself in thought, and, as she closed the book, Frisk could see her hands were shaking ever so slightly. She knew something. She understood part of the riddle, if not the full riddle.

Frisk walked out of the room, pretending to not have noticed Toriel's panic. They closed the door behind them and turned left again. There was a mirror, and the reflection showed them self when they looked into it. After about a minute of looking into the reflective glass, there was a flash as someone else appeared. Frisk stepped back, hoping that they weren't hallucinating. When the new face didn't appear, Frisk decided that they were just seeing things.

They walked to the last door and tried to open it. The door was locked and was said to be under renovations as stated by the sign that was nailed to the door.

Frisk wandered around the house some more, grabbing another slice of pie with a knife that was laying on the counter top beside it. After that, they took various things around the house and went back to pick the lock. Frisk had earned this talent from having learned how to lock pick as a survival use, knowing that being able to pick the lock of someone's house on the Surface would come in useful when needing to steel something.

They picked the lock within a few minutes and were still undiscovered by Toriel. They walked into the room, finding it was actually more of a walk in closet. On the shelves that covered the walls were six glass jars, and within each of them was a faintly glowing soul. Purple, dark blue, light blue, green, yellow, orange. Frisk felt their stomach twist with the fear they felt as they saw another jar, but empty. That jar was labeled with one word; Red. And if they recalled correctly, that was the color of their soul.

They turned their unwavering attention towards a note that was taped to the empty jar.

'Find red soul, then give to Flowey. Before giving all seven souls to him, remind him that I will become ruler of the Underground.'

That was all that was written.

"Frisk!"

Toriel had her hands placed over her muzzle in shock. She was staring wide eyed before her expression calmed and became. . . demented.

"Mom?"

Toriel took a step towards the human as she commenced a battle between the two. Frisk tried to find a way out, but settled on just running past Toriel. They ran past the homicidal monster, her sharp fangs seeming much more menacing now that she revealed her true self. Now that she showed she was a murderer, soft, but unsettling, music echoed.

Frisk ran towards the stairwell, running down the steps and through the corridor. They placed their back against the door, feeling cornered now that the battle had started. The thick, black, emotionless walls taunted them as they tried to dodge the attacks that Toriel created. They tried, but they failed. They attempted to spare her, but they were unable to. There was no way out of this, so they cried out for help. They cried for anyone to help, but nobody came.

The pain they felt from Toriel's magic subsided as they heard a similar noise to their cries.

"I cannot do this anymore! I am tired of being so selfish! I just want my old life back."

Frisk looked up to see Toriel crying and kneeling. She gave off a shudder as she sighed with defeat. They walked over to the monster and hugged her. As they did so, the soft purple and red from their souls mixed into a sort of mist. As they continued their hug, something occurred. Toriel's white soul became filled with the color purple all while Frisk's brown hair earned a red stripe.

They had healed Toriel of the disease. The killer had met Eight.


	3. Chapter 3

After healing Toriel from the disease, Frisk was sent on their way through the door. Toriel stayed in the Ruins whilst Frisk ventured out into the next region of the Underground. Winter winds swirled in circles and sent spirals of snowflakes around the young human. Even though they wore a sweater, they felt goosebumps form from the frozen wasteland that was thick with pine trees.

There was a path of freshly fallen snow that guided the human through the winter. Twigs covered the ground as the child continued in a straight path. After continuing the walk, Frisk passed a large branch of which reminded them of their own stick they carried with them. After a few more minutes, a snap of a branch from behind. Frisk swiftly turned around to look behind them so as to see whom broke the branch, but found no one. After a few minutes longer, they thought they saw the silhouette of someone out of the corner of their eyes. They turned around, thinking they were seeing things once again as they continued on their journey. A few minutes later, Frisk was frozen as fear crept in, initiated from the sound of snow being crunched behind them from someone's footsteps.

"human. don't ya know how to greet a friend?"

The voice was male and young. Frisk slowly turned around, but found nothing. They turned around again and screamed having been startled by the owner of the voice. A skeleton the same size as them self stood laughing at Frisk's fear, clasping his stomach from how hard he was laughing.

"oh, geez. i do not get a good laugh like that very often."

Frisk tilted their head in confusion whilst the skeleton tried to recompose himself. He wore a dark gray jacket that had dark blue faux fur lining the hood. Once he was done laughing, he straightened his posture and gave off a tired grin.

"my name's sans, sans the skeleton. who might you be?"

"Frisk."

"not a bad name."

Frisk mustered up the courage to ask his age.

"i'm thirteen. why?"

"Uh, no reason."

Frisk went back to being quiet while Sans looked around nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"huh? nothin'."

A terrible lie for Frisk was easily able to see he was distressed for some reason, but they decided not to push the topic.

"uh. . . listen. my bro should be comin' around soon. i'll help ya hide. just follow me."

Sans walked across the bridge that Frisk had come to a stop to upon hearing his approach, walking through a gate that was located with too wide of fencing. Frisk followed the skeleton, feelings of panic increasing as they were unsure that they should trust the skeleton after what happened with Toriel. They were told to hide behind the conveniently shaped lamp as they heard footsteps approach. The footsteps were paired with long strides as a new voice came with.

"SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING AWAY FROM YOUR STATION!"

"i-i was just, uh, gonna give you my daily report."

"IT'S MORNING, SANS! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GIVE ME YOUR DAILY REPORT AT THE END OF EVERY DAY, YOU THICK SKULLED IDIOT!"

Frisk heard a loud noise as if two stones were hit against each other. The sound came with another noise; A groan of pain. Frisk took the risk of peaking out from behind the lamp to see a much taller skeleton that was twice Sans' size. The new monster was holding a bone that was the same size as himself.

The child examined the two closer. Sans had three stripes leading downwards from his left eye socket, the first stripe was thinner than the second whilst the third ended at a point before curling to the bottom of his cheekbone unlike the first two. The other skeleton also had stripes, but they lead from below both his eye sockets instead of one. The two stripes curled towards the back of his skull before merging at the center of his forehead. The stripes on Sans were a dark blue while the ones on the other skeleton were green.

"i-i'm sor- ow!"

The other skeleton had taken his staff like bone and thwacked Sans on the back of the skull with it. Sans shrank back into himself, appearing smaller as he rubbed the back of his skull. Upon further inspection, Frisk noticed that Sans had more marks like the one he just received all spread across his skull.

"THAT SHOULD TEACH YOU TO NOT BE SO STUPID! AND THIS ONE SHOULD TEACH YOU NOT TO FORGET SIMPLE TASKS SUCH AS GIVING YOUR DAILY REPORT!"

"papyrus."

Frisk watched as Papyrus raised the orange tinted bone so as to hit Sans with it again. Sans covered his skull with his arms to keep it from getting damaged any more than it already was. Frisk saw terror swim in his eye sockets before he closed them so he wouldn't have to see what would happen next. Without a second thought, Frisk ran out from behind the lamp and blocked the attack. Their damage fell to nineteen point eight HP as Papyrus looked at them with shock.

"A-A HUMAN! SANS! A HUMAN!"

Sans looked up and opened his eye sockets to see Frisk standing in front of him. Shock spread across his face as well as fear for what may be the inevitable.

"f-frisk?"

"YOU KNOW THIS HUMAN?"

Sans tensed as Papyrus raised his attack again, but Frisk stayed in front of Sans protectively. Papyrus looked outraged, but eventually put away his attack. He stared at Frisk for a good minute before walking away in the direction that the human would eventually go.

The human turned around upon hearing Sans sigh with a sort of. . . depressed tone.

"uh. . . thanks. i-i'm gonna go check up on him."

Sans began walking in the opposite direction of where Papyrus had gone, but Frisk didn't linger on the confusion. They followed Papyrus through the winter forest, his tracks easy to spot. The snow had stopped falling and it was almost peaceful in the chilly area. The only thing that kept Frisk from feeling at ease in this section of the Underground was the fact that they wanted to help Sans, yet he didn't seem to want any help.

Throughout the forest, Papyrus and Sans were constantly seen, especially Sans. He kept managing to get somewhere without having to walk in that direction as well as not being seen by Frisk. Papyrus had set up multiple puzzles of which were a breeze to complete. Sans, on the other hand, kept a fair distance from Papyrus and avoided eye contact with every living entity. He just didn't seem comfortable in this situation, causing Frisk to feel sadness in them for the young skeleton monster.

"NOW, WE SHALL FIGHT ONCE YOU PASS THROUGH MY HOME TOWN. I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU IN FRONT OF EVERYONE, BRINGING THEM HOPE!"

Papyrus strode off, leaving Frisk and Sans alone. Sans' eye sockets were devoid of the normal white pupils. When he noticed that Frisk was looking worriedly towards him, the pupils came back and he gave off another tired smile.

"heh. i, um, suggest that ya don't fight my bro. just. . . don't go to the fight at all. he's pretty tough. he battled all the other humans and won against all of them. when he says he's gonna capture ya, he means it. he'll kill ya before delivering your soul to the capital. after that, the barrier will be broken."

Frisk nodded before walking off, but it wasn't long before they turned around from the curiosity that stung their soul. What they saw was. . . bizarre. Or, at least to Frisk for Sans had rolled up the left sleeve of his dark gray jacket and was staring at a bone that was half colored dark blue and the other half the original off white color. When listened to closely, the wheezing that Sans emitted could be heard faintly. He gave off shudders of pain as he held in a series of coughs, all while crimson tears emerged from his eye sockets. Sans turned around and stared at Frisk whom tensed at the fact that they were caught. They looked towards the ground nervously, knowing that they couldn't erase this embarrassing moment. Frisk, at last, decided that they should probably check to see if Sans was alright.

"Sans? Are you alright?"

Sans looked up with pain filled eyes, yet he still tried to hide it with his usual exhausted smile. He had pulled the sleeve over the bone that was turning a different color than what was considered normal.

"i-i'm fine. why wouldn't i be?"

Frisk looked at him disappointedly, wanting him to tell them what was wrong. His lying was terrible, but they dropped the subject. Instead, they left Sans to himself as they went to fight Papyrus, even though Sans had told them not to.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note : I am very sorry for how long it took for me to get this chapter out. I've had something similar to writers block lately, but it's not quite writers block. I've also been working with a cover for another Undertale fan fiction I've had in mind as of recently. I want to get the first chapter out as soon as possible, but I'm very busy and I would like to finish the cover first. Well, that sums everything up, I think. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Creative Lynx 13, out.

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"SO. YOU HAVE BRAVED THE IDEA OF FIGHTING ME. WELL. I ASSURE YOU THAT YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME. NOW. PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

Papyrus initiated the battle, his main weapon placed in his right hand. He swung his attack with a bright orange glow. With his attack came the same glow, except green, from the 'battle body' he wore. No. Some of his bones. Part of his right arm glinted with the warm, but empty, kindness. The attack was unusual. New. Frisk was unsure of how to dodge until they noticed that if they kept moving then they would be fine. The only issue with this would be that they would soon grow tired with exhaustion as they dodged. And dodged. And dodged.

They reached one HP as Papyrus prepared his next attack. . . but there was hesitation. His weapon lowered some, the hatred in his eye sockets dimming. Frisk looked up, hope filled. Frisk pleaded in silence for Papyrus to show mercy. . . And he did.

"I-I CAN'T DO THIS. I CAN'T KILL. I. . . I'M TOO WEAK TO KILL."

Frisk stood and walked over to Papyrus whom was hugging himself as green tears streaked his cheekbones. The human and monster stood in silence for a while, but it wasn't long before Frisk broke the silence and tension. They hugged Papyrus while trying to reassure him that he wasn't weak. That he was strong, and it was because he committed to mercy. He spared Frisk, even when he knew the Underground, in a way, rested in his skeletal hands. To defy the eagerness of every monster whom all want to kill every human that fell into the Underground.

A glow of red and green intertwined as Papyrus' white soul turned to a kind green.

Papyrus was now healed. The guard was now strong.

"THANK YOU, HUMAN. FOR TEACHING ME MERCY."

Frisk nodded as Papyrus said goodbye and began to walk off. He said that he needed to check on Sans whom he complained was probably at Grillby's eating the disgustingly greasy food that was served at the restaurant. Frisk realized that they would probably never regain the guts to ask Papyrus the one question that tickled their mind, creating a flicker of nervousness.

"Papyrus, wait."

Papyrus looked over his right shoulder, giving a quizzical look towards Frisk.

"YES, HUMAN?"

With all nervousness twisting their guts, Frisk admitted defeat, "I-I. . . I love you."

Papyrus turned all the way around to face Frisk once again, his lower jaw opened in a sort of gaping position. Frisk had clearly shocked him, and, in return, she began to rapidly apologize. They were terrified, thinking that they had upset the merciful skeleton. To their surprise, they had received a smile and 'NYEH' of approval from Papyrus. He had accepted the dating 'challenge', as he called it, and Frisk sighed with relief as Papyrus began to say that checking on Sans was now urgent. He seemed distressed and wanted very badly to see if Sans was doing alright, and Frisk was worried as to why Papyrus was so nervous about Sans. But Frisk didn't bother asking since they didn't want to bother the skeleton any further.

They wandered back into Snowdin so that they could buy some healing items before leaving the town into the next region. Once they had bought what they needed, they walked to the next area. They were unsure of the name of the new region, but soon found out it was called Waterfall. They wandered into the next cavern as the snow no longer covered the ground. They saw a couple new monsters as well as a glowing, light blue flower that echoed what others had said near it or whispered to it. Not only that, but Sans was there. Frisk smiled, excited to see Sans for some unknown reason.

"Sans!"

Sans jumped as he had been sleeping and, in turn, been surprised by Frisk's voice. He looked over to Frisk and gave a grin filled with the tiredness that his eyes showed.

"hey, frisk. need somethin'?"

"Um. . . H-how are you doing?"

Sans looked confused, as to why Frisk would ask such a question. He gave off a false lighthearted smile as he tried to push away the question. His attempt was futile.

"i'm doin' fine. i don't know why ya ask."

"Papyrus said that he had to check on you."

"oh."

Sans looked to the ground before raising his head again so he could face Frisk.

"say. ya wanna get somethin' to eat?"

"Sure."

"c'mon. i know a short cut."

Sans stood and began to walk off, but then stopped as if he was forgetting something and had just remembered.

"uh. actually. . . i can't use my shortcut. heh. paps told me that i needed to stop usin' so much of my magic."

"Why?"

"uh. . . heheh. . . um. . . b-b-because i-i uh. . ."

"It's fine. You don't have to tell me."

Sans gave a relieved look and sigh as he seemed to like hearing that the subject would be dropped. He was hiding something, though. . . Frisk was unsure as to what. He had the disease, but he must have had at least five HP.

Of recently, Frisk had learned that monsters with HP less than five would end up dying from the disease like humans would. So that meant Sans had at least five HP, giving Frisk reason to not worry about him. . . But they still worried about the young skeleton.

So Sans and Frisk went by foot to the restaurant called Grillby's. Sans asked Frisk what they wanted to eat, and so they just ordered fries. Grillby, a monster made solely of fire, also seemed rather young. Frisk assumed he was about seventeen or eighteen, about the same age as Papyrus or Toriel. He had light blue flickers of fire in the more fire like orange. He was calm. Patient, hence the light blue fire.

After sitting in perfect, yet comfortable, silence, Sans got up and said goodbye. He said that he needed to get back to work, even though he's only thirteen. Frisk assumed that Sans was much older than thirteen, but was just trapped within the age of thirteen because of the disease.

Frisk slid off the stool that they had been sitting on and walked out into the frozen land of Snowdin. Before Frisk went back to Waterfall, they went over to a cliff side. They looked below them, an entire land of forbidden snow that had never been walked on. After staring at the wasteland for a while, Frisk left to Waterfall to continue their tiresome journey.

Within the new environment was a calming, peaceful feel to it. Plants and water that glowed with a soothing cyan color that urged Frisk to stay. Stones sparkled on the ceiling of some of the caverns similar to stars as they felt someone watching throughout the caverns. They ran into Undyne, whom a young monster had informed them of, multiple times. After reaching a certain point, Monster Kid blocked Frisk's path.

"Yo! You shouldn't come this way. Undyne'll kill ya if you do."

"Oh. Uh-"

"Well. You're lucky you won't fall to the wrath of Undyne. Instead. . . you'll fall to my vengeance!"

Monster Kid committed to battling with Frisk as his neon yellow skin glowed with the want for justice. He gave a smile as he saw the human's fear. They told him that they didn't want to fight. He didn't listen. Instead, he attacked. He sent waves of bites and scratches towards Frisk, a few draining their HP to sixteen. Frisk tried to show mercy to the vengeful monster, but couldn't. In turn, Frisk ran. They ran from the fight, losing the monster in the dump. He had looked around before moving on, cursing under his breath with frustration. But in return, they were caught by Undyne.


	5. Chapter 5

"Fuhuhu! So. You ready for this battle? Of course you aren't!"

Undyne commenced a battle, sharp spear in her right hand. Ruthlessness glimmered in her eyes as she turned Frisk's soul a green tint. Undyne's faintly glowing waved stripes showed a menacing amount of false bravery. Her eyes gleamed with yellow vengeance that wasn't her own. Frisk could tell that Undyne wanted to kill, but at the same time. . . she looked like she was reluctant to fight. Over time, Undyne's attacks grew slower and more strained. The spears would jitter with tension as the battle came to a close.

Undyne began to cry as she screamed that it wasn't fair. That the monsters being trapped underground for all eternity was unfair. That the disease that had come about was unfair. That life. . . was unfair.

Frisk walked up to Undyne, placing a knowing hand on her left shoulder. The Royalty had knelt.

Undyne looked up at the young human, fear glinting in her yellow eye. That fear soon left as Undyne looked away from Frisk, apologizing for her behavior. After all, she was only sixteen.

Undyne left, and Frisk was then alone. They looked down into the murky water, noticing three, bright red stripes crossing vertically over their brunette hair. The human child new what they had to do, they were just scared about doing so. They, so suddenly, had so much responsibility shoved towards them to the point that their mind was swimming with confusion.

"ya know, ya can't make a true pacifist run in this universe."

Frisk turned around to find that Sans had snuck up on them. They looked at him with growing anger.

"I bet I can make a true pacifist run."

"oh c'mon. this universe is nothin' but pain and insanity."

"So you're saying that you're insane."

"maybe. i honestly dunno. but i can tell you that others like me are insane, or at least lost most of their mind."

"Got any proof?"

Sans' smile widened, a glint of humor in his white pupils.

"i know a couple, but i won't specify anything."

Frisk gave an angry glare towards Sans, whom just laughed off the stare of disgust. The young human quickly turned around and stormed off in rage, punching a dummy on their way through the rest of the dump.

"Hey! What kind of attack was that! That was weak! Wimpy even!"

"Shut up! Okay! I don't care about your opinion on my attack!"

After that, Frisk ran off to find a safe haven away from any living beings. Once they found a place to be alone, they sat against a wall and thought over all that was happening. After some thought on the skeleton's words, they knew Sans was right. Partially, at least. They could still manage a pacifist run, whatever that meant, but they couldn't spare everyone. The disease sort of interfered with the whole sparing everyone concept, so Frisk spared whenever they could and ran when they were unable to show such mercy. A pacifist run was just not killing anyone, right? Who said the young human had to spare everyone.

"Heh. Um, hey again, punk."

Frisk looked up from their thoughts to find Undyne.

"Oh. Hey."

"You been sitting there ever since our battle?"

"Yeah."

"Our battle was about five hours ago."

Five hours. Five hours of consuming everything that was happening, digesting it into thought that was still muddled.

"Huh."

Undyne sat down next to Frisk, their green and black plaid shirt hanging loose around her, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

"Say, I. . . I just want to say thanks."

"Why? I haven't done anything special."

"You kidding me! You're bringing back our original selves! I mean, the humans on the surface. . . sorta. . . hated us. The disease scared them, and they blamed us. They didn't know how much this disgusting virus, or whatever it is, did to us."

"Yeah. As I was told."

"I bet you could help everyone."

Frisk blurted out a rant of laughter, causing a shocked look from Undyne.

"Sorry, Undyne. It's just, Sans thinks the opposite."

"Fuhuhu! He's a pessimistic lazy bones! He doesn't know anything about this disease."

Out of earshot of Undyne, Frisk whispered to them self, "But he knows more than he lets on."

A long, uncomfortable silence layered the duo as they sat on the cool cavern floors.

"Well, I better get going. I. . . need to go meet up with someone."

The young human stayed silent as Undyne walked off without another word.

"Ugh. I can't stand this place anymore!"

". . . can't stand this place anymore."

Frisk looked to their right to see a black flower. They had seen cyan ones of the same appearance, but this one sounded similar to that of someone they knew. They shook the thought away as they let out an exhausted sigh, the flower next to them repeating. After a few more minutes, they stood and began to leave for the next region.

". . . the skeleton keys can open a gait, any gait."

The flower had snagged a couple of thin, blackened vines onto the young human's ankles, the fresh scent of a fire's smoke lingering in the air all of a sudden. The scariest thing of all was it hadn't repeated anything that the human child had said, and was speaking in a sort of riddle.

". . . it is to be warned that all skeletons are not all sane, and can open a portal to two worlds."

The charred vines strengthened their grip on Frisk, producing pointed thorns that dug into the skin and released a deep crimson from around their ankles.

". . . they each have a key to the world they were banned from. Some are kind, others are cruel. Not all are skeletons. All were faithful creators."

The vines retracted their grip, causing Frisk to fall backwards as they had been staring at the flower. The flower then fell to a pile of ashes, whispering 'time is hidden, space is scarce'.

* * *

Author's Note : Finally. My writers block is finally wearing off. For some reason, whenever I get writers block, it lasts for months. Sometimes longer. So, I apologize for that inconvenience about my writing (if anyone actually enjoyed the stuff I write). Lynx, out.


	6. Chapter 6

Frisk sat in wait, the words the flower had spoken coiling around their mind. They took out Toriel's book, having stolen it from their goat mom.

"Alright. Toriel is The Killer, and she's already met me, Eight. Sans is The Alternate, and I need to figure out how to cure him. Papyrus is The Guard, and I've already helped him become strong again. Undyne is The Royalty, and she's already knelt. . ."

Frisk contemplated over the riddle, having solved about half of it. They were still curious about who had written the riddle, but did know that they were most likely a skeleton. They quickly jotted down what they could recall that the flower had said below the skeleton key signature in thought that it may be a crucial part of the riddle.

Frisk stood and continued on their way through Waterfall, closing the journal and placing it into their inventory. They soon entered a short corridor where peaceful, glowing, cyan echo flowers danced in the slight breeze and cool humidity of Waterfall. As Frisk walked by the flowers, they became lit with flames of the same blue hue, become a scorched black as their whispers of hope turned to that of pain.

"Can't be saved."

"We'll all die."

"Life is genocide."

The morbid and hopeless whispers caused Frisk to shudder in horror, their simple, kind nature drowning in the macabre flowers' words. Once they reached the next area, their mind was dizzy and they felt a heavy weight of responsibility crushing them.

"heh. not so easy, is it?"

Frisk didn't need to look to know that Sans had teleported behind them.

"You caused those flowers to change, didn't you?"

"nope. i can't do such a thing. i'm no plant monster, so how could i do such a thing?"

"I don't know, but I just know you did it."

"have ya ever thought about askin' flowey? he's a plant monster. he could easily twist the minds and words of other plant monsters."

"What? Th-those were just-"

"just flowers? nah. those were plant monsters. they may not be able to speak their own mind or move around like little flowey, but they're still monsters."

That was what caused Frisk to look up, curiosity shifting in their eyes.

"Then how did they morph like that?"

"probably caused by the lost soul of asriel dreemurr, the prince of the underground."

"Lost soul? Prince of the Underground?"

"yep. but i can't say more than that. it's illegal or somethin' like that."

Frisk looked down towards the ground, their fear fading to curiosity again. They knew that Sans had knowledge of many things that he just wasn't speaking; That he was keeping secret. They risked speaking their curiosity.

"Sans? Do you. . . know what a blue skeleton key symbolizes?"

The young human brought out the journal, flipping the pages to the charred page that read the riddle. They looked up from the journal to find that Sans had teleported in front of them. They turned the journal around so it was facing Sans. When he saw the symbol, his expression never changed.

"nope. sorry. never seen that symbol in my life. you should ask my bro. he's really good at deciphering codes and what not."

"Oh. Alright. Thanks anyway. I'll have to call him sometime later."

"you're welcome. welp, i'm gonna head to g's. wanna come?"

"G's?"

"Grillby's."

"Oh. Right"

"so, wanna come?"

"No thanks. I'm kind of busy. Sorry."

"that's fine. i'll see ya later, buddy."

At that last sentence, Sans teleported off to, most likely, Grillby's. Upon Sans' leave, Frisk continued on their way all while they tried not to linger their thoughts on the echo flowers from the previous room.

They paced themselves throughout the rest of Waterfall, reaching Hotland, that's what the large, neon lit sign said, within a few hours as the Underground was far more expansive than Frisk had anticipated. What was strange was that the red orange magma beneath was not sweltering hot like it normally would. Instead, it was more of a peaceful warmth that swarmed Frisk with the sensation of drowsiness.

"How interesting."

Frisk was startled from their half asleep mind as a quiet voice interfered with their exhausted thoughts. The young human found a small, reptilian like monster standing before them. The reptile monster had tan scales with flecks of cyan lighting sticking to some of her scales.

"Hello, and welcome to Hotland. My name is Alphys."

Alphys held out a hand, sharp, pearly claws shimmering in the calming light of the magma below. Frisk warily and hesitantly shook Alphys' hand, her claws digging into their skin. Blood spilled from between the broken skin and pointed talons as Frisk ripped their hand away from the monster, only succeeding in making the wound worse. Alphys licked at the blood on her claws in order to clean them.

"I'm a dragon monster, though, I'll never receive my wings due to the disease having ceased my growth."

Frisk just stared in horror as Alphys' eyes held slit pupils of which startled the human child.

"W-why did-"

"Why did I hurt you like that? Because I need your soul, so what's the point in playing friendliness."

Alphys showed off bright, white fangs in her maw, showing her carnivorous self. Frisk took a cautious step back as the reptilian pupils scanned over them, bringing their soul into a battle. The battle began as Alphys quickly began the fight, sending waves of sharp scales Frisk's way. The scales ranged from the normal white to yellow. The yellow always caught Frisk off guard as it switched into a random direction and did twice as much damage than the normal white attacks.

"You should have never come down here, human, as the Underground is filled with aggressive monsters."

Halfway through the battle, Alphys began to howl with anger from the determination Frisk held. Large, mechanical wings ripped through the white, grease stained lab coat that Alphys wore. The dragon monster slowly brought her wings in a similar motion to that of a bat's wings when it flies, except slower and more menacing. Alphys rose into the air, causing surrounding monster's to flee in fear. Sharp claws, fangs, scales, and even wings attacked at Frisk in attempt to kill the young human.

Alphys continued her attack, not even seeming to be exhausted by the battle. But, slowly, the human began to see Alphys grow exhausted. Her movements were slower, but her flying stayed consistent.

"Why won't you just DIE?!"

Frisk said nothing, just stood there. They watched Alphys lower herself to the ground, placing her talon covered feet firmly on the ground. She folded her wings to her sides loosely, staring at the ground in defeat. Frisk watched Alphys with thought as she felt the young dragon monster was hiding something.

"Alphys, are you alright?"

Alphys looked up, startled by the question.


	7. Chapter 7

After having a quick talk with Alphys, as well as healing the young dragon monster, earning the human another bright red stripe streaked across their hair, Frisk walked off to the next room located in the Hotland region. That is, they were going to go to the next room, but then remembered that Sans had suggested they talk to Papyrus about the riddle. So, they turned around and headed towards the River Person so they could catch a quick ride to Snowdin so they could show Papyrus the riddle as it would be easier than talking over the phone.

"Thank you, River Person."

Frisk handed the cloaked monster five gold before walking through the thick snow that shadowed over the frozen ground. The sound of snow giving off gentle sounds of being crunched under the weight of the young human. After walking for a few minutes, Frisk reached the house of Sans and Papyrus. They stood in front of the door, snow beginning to fall softly onto the already snow covered ground. They felt their anxiety rise as they raised their hand and brought it into a fist so they could knock on the door. They felt their entire being shake with the nervousness of seeing Papyrus again.

"Come on, Frisk. You shouldn't be this nervous. Papy already accepted your love, and, besides, you're just going to talk to him about that signature beneath the riddle."

After calming their nerves with a quick pep talk, the young human quickly rapped their knuckle against the wood of the door. The door almost immediately opened with Papyrus standing in the doorway.

"AH. HELLO, FRISK. DO YOU NEED SOMETHING?"

"Um, yes. I need help with part of a riddle. Sans said that you might be able to help."

After hearing about the riddle, Papyrus lead Frisk into the warm house of the skeleton brothers. Both the skeleton and human sat on the couch in the living room, Frisk quickly flipping the pages of the journal to the charred page that had dabbles of white inked writing.

Frisk pointed to the blue colored skeleton key, showing the symbol to Papyrus, "See, someone signed this riddle with this symbol, but I don't know what it means. I was hoping you would know. I actually asked Sans first, but he didn't know what it meant. So, he sort of suggested that I ask you about it."

"HMM. . . WELL, AS A FIRST, SANS IS A DIRTY LIAR."

"Um, why?"

"BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT THIS SYMBOL MEANS. NOT AS WELL AS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THOUGH, BUT HE DOES KNOW WHAT IS MEANS. HE'S JUST TO ASHAMED, OR SOMETHING STUPID LIKE THAT, TO TELL WHAT IT MEANS. THIS IS ACTUALLY THE SYMBOL OF THE ROYAL FAMILY-"

"So, like Asgore and Toriel?"

"NO. THEIR SYMBOL IS THE DELTA RUNE. PLUS, THEIR JUST A REPLACEMENT OF THE TRUE ROYAL FAMILY. SANS AND I ARE THE TRUE HEIRS TO THE THRONE. OUR PARENTS WERE THE TRUE RULERS OF MONSTERKIND, BUT OUR MOTHER WAS KILLED IN THE WAR AND OUR FATHER. . . I CAN'T QUITE SAY WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM. BUT, I SHOULD BE RULING OVER THIS DUMP AND NOT THOSE LOUSY, COMMON GOAT MONSTERS. THEY JUST STOLE THE THRONE, SAYING THAT ALL HEIRS TO THE THRONE WERE DEAD."

"Hmm. So, the symbol belongs to the true royal family, which is you and Sans? But, then why would Sans be ashamed of that?"

"WELL, HE'S A BIT OF AN INVERT. HE HATES BEING AROUND OTHER MONSTERS, AND ONLY SPEAKS IF HE ACTUALLY NEEDS TO. THAT'S WHAT MAKES HIM SO WEAK. HE CAN'T STAND BEING AROUND MANY MONSTERS, IF ANY AT ALL. BUT, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, THE REASON HE'S ASHAMED OF BEING A PART OF THE TRUE ROYAL FAMILY IS BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF COME WITH THE POWER. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT OUR PARENTS DID SOME THINGS THAT WERE NECESSARY, BUT NOT ALWAYS PLEASANT."

"Oh. Well, thanks for the help, Papy. I'll see you later."

The two said their goodbyes as Frisk left the house and into the snow that now fell in the form of a small blizzard. They quickly walked back to where the River Person was, but found that the mysterious monster was no where to be found. So, that meant they had to walk back through Waterfall.

"Great. Just great. I don't know how I'm ever going to do this so called 'pacifist run' Sans talked about. Whatever. I suppose it doesn't matter what he thinks."

Frisk froze in silence after hearing a soft voice interrupt her mumbling. The human hesitantly looked around the corridor they were in, finding a gray door that hadn't been there when they last passed through Waterfall. They brought out a hand and silently turned the doorknob, finding something they had not been expecting.

* * *

Author's Note : I apologize for such a short chapter, but I wanted to end this on a cliff hanger. Also, spoiler, but Gaster is not who's behind the gray door. I know that's how it is in the game, but this isn't Undertale. It's an AU, and everything is shifted around and what not. Lynx, out.


End file.
